OCVT Discussion Theme 2/18: Diversity of Tactics

REMINDER: On Saturday 2/18, the OCVT-GA will start with a 1-hour Discussion at 3PM, followed by a 1-hour General Assembly at 4PM.

The THEME for discussion is “Diversity of Tactics within Occupy” (non-violence, black bloc tactics, etc.). Members of the Education & Empowerment Working Group will present the topic, followed by a briefly synthesized overview of NVDA (non-violent direct action) and Black Bloc (a tactic that has raised controversy within Occupy), then we’ll open up stack for Full Group Discussion.

Background information and links to articles of interest are listed below, for those that want to do a little (or a lot) of reading prior to the discussion…

In the name of creativity, resistance, and democracy, many antiglobalization activists advocate “respect for diversity of tactics” as a nonnegotiable basis of unity. Solidarity with the full range of resistance has meant that no tactics are ruled out in advance and that activists refrain from publicly criticizing tactics with which they disagree. However, embracing diversity of tactics is not without ambiguity and risk: both strategically in terms of provoking repression and losing public support, but also in terms of democratic practice and culture within the movement itself where it may damage any prospect for broad coalition politics. …

Respect for diversity of tactics as an ethical framework presupposes the existence of “affinity groups” as the unit of organization and democratic decision making. … The decisive feature of respect for diversity of tactics is an ethic of respect for, and acceptance of, the tactical choices of other activists. …

Respect for diversity of tactics is a code that is both strategic and ethical. Many proponents are themselves implicitly or explicitly non-violent. Respect for diversity of tactics does not necessarily imply engaging in or even agreeing with the full range of tactics; rather, it holds that everyone has the right and the responsibility to identify their own thresholds of legitimate protest and to make their own political, strategical, and ethical choices, while also allowing others to do so free from public criticism or censure.

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About Occupy Central VT

Occupy Central Vermont stands in solidarity with the global Occupy Movement and related Peoples Powered Uprising around the globe. This blog is for posting Meeting Minutes and upcoming General Assembly Agendas, as well as other relevant Information, Resources, or Discussions for Central Vermonters to build a popular movement, show solidarity with cities across the U.S. and around the globe, and communicate locally, regionally, nationally, and internationally in order to *be*—and incite—the change we want to see in the world.